I just started with a behmor and noticed from your sig you have one. How do you cool immediately with a Behmor? Wouldn't the cool down cycle in the behmor cause a baked bean? I used a cooler when I was roasting with my sc/gg and my popper roaster.

Netphilosopher Said:

Couple suggestions:

If you're stretching first crack, then push the Ethiopia to the first few crackles of 2nd crack. Technically, this is Full City, but it acts as a really nice City+.

Sour in an Ethiopia (or Uganda, and especially the lemony ones like Tanzania and some of the Kenyans), in my experience, is encountered when roasted toward city or close to that light. The fruits and florals of Africans really benefit from good browning development and some roasting notes - but NOT at the end of 2nd crack. IMO, both Caribou and Starbucks take the Ethiopia coffees WAY too far (dark, oily beans roasted to near-Vienna).

I'm not sure how you'd do it in a popcorn popper, but if you have a thermometer, try a "drying" phase. Start your roast, but after the first minute, temper the heat and if you have a thermometer, keep the bean temp around 250°F for minutes 2:00 - 3:30, then ramp up and head toward 1st crack. If you do this right, you'll hit 1st crack start (which will be a bit more muted) around 8:00-8:30. Ramp back and maintain for 1st crack, try and stretch it for about 3 minutes if you can, then gently nudge it toward 2nd crack when the 1st crack starts to subside. When you start hearing the crackle of 2nd crack, dump and cool the beans immediately.

That's the other thing - slow ramp-down of the cooling phase can act like a stalled roast, and this can mimic flavors of baked coffee. I'm not sure of the mechanism, but from experience I know that once you're past 350°F, you don't want to have the bean temp drop - and when you're done, you want to be done NOW. Make sure you have a very good cooling strategy.

With a popcorn popper, since you're really only dealing with ~100-200g of green coffee, one effective cooling strategy if you don't have a forced air or vacuum cooler, is to toss the hot coffee beans into a cooled stainless steel bowl and stir/agitate it until the temp equalizes. It's really decent at sucking the heat off the beans, and in the end the temp will be above the dewpoint so you won't have to worry about condensation. Might be worth a try.

If you're stretching first crack, then push the Ethiopia to the first few crackles of 2nd crack. Technically, this is Full City, but it acts as a really nice City+.

Sour in an Ethiopia (or Uganda, and especially the lemony ones like Tanzania and some of the Kenyans), in my experience, is encountered when roasted toward city or close to that light. The fruits and florals of Africans really benefit from good browning development and some roasting notes - but NOT at the end of 2nd crack. IMO, both Caribou and Starbucks take the Ethiopia coffees WAY too far (dark, oily beans roasted to near-Vienna).

I'm not sure how you'd do it in a popcorn popper, but if you have a thermometer, try a "drying" phase. Start your roast, but after the first minute, temper the heat and if you have a thermometer, keep the bean temp around 250°F for minutes 2:00 - 3:30, then ramp up and head toward 1st crack. If you do this right, you'll hit 1st crack start (which will be a bit more muted) around 8:00-8:30. Ramp back and maintain for 1st crack, try and stretch it for about 3 minutes if you can, then gently nudge it toward 2nd crack when the 1st crack starts to subside. When you start hearing the crackle of 2nd crack, dump and cool the beans immediately.

That's the other thing - slow ramp-down of the cooling phase can act like a stalled roast, and this can mimic flavors of baked coffee. I'm not sure of the mechanism, but from experience I know that once you're past 350°F, you don't want to have the bean temp drop - and when you're done, you want to be done NOW. Make sure you have a very good cooling strategy.

With a popcorn popper, since you're really only dealing with ~100-200g of green coffee, one effective cooling strategy if you don't have a forced air or vacuum cooler, is to toss the hot coffee beans into a cooled stainless steel bowl and stir/agitate it until the temp equalizes. It's really decent at sucking the heat off the beans, and in the end the temp will be above the dewpoint so you won't have to worry about condensation. Might be worth a try.

Awesome, thanks for the info. I haven't been using a thermometer, but I do have an infrared non-contact thermometer that might work. I have been keeping from first crack until about 8-10 minutes, but I'll try dialing it in a bit more with your info. For cooling I use the colander method, with the addition of a box fan, which seems to work fairly well. Thanks again

I have a bucket bean cooler also that I used when roasting with my sc/gg roaster.With the Behmor it's a much slower cooling process, unless you stop the roaster and dump into a cooler. I don't think Behmor recommends stopping the roaster while it is hot. Do you think the slower cooling has an adverse affect on the roast?

I just started with a behmor and noticed from your sig you have one. How do you cool immediately with a Behmor? Wouldn't the cool down cycle in the behmor cause a baked bean? I used a cooler when I was roasting with my sc/gg and my popper roaster.

I hit cool at the desired time - then with a glove I open the door and remove the chaff collector while the machine is still running. Next I use a cheap 2nd hand Hoover Wind Tunnel upright vacuum to help cool faster by placing the small wide flat attachment on the end of the hose which I place near to the bottom middle of the rotating drum. This draws hot air out and brings cooler air into the chamber which lowers temps very quickly. In less than a minute the drum feels cool to the touch so the beans are cooling faster as well.

I chew coffee beans with my teeth while gargling with 195 F water to enjoy coffee. What is this "coffee brewing" device you speak of?

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